The Blue Penguin (Eudyptula minor) is assumed to be declining over much of its range, largely due to introduced predators. Anecdotal evidence suggests that one of the areas of declining population is the West Coast of the South Island. The purpose of this study was to determine the reasons for the assumed decline of blue penguins in South Westland. This was done by studying breeding ecology at several blue penguin colonies to assess the importance of breeding success and adult mortality on the penguin population. Three blue penguin colonies in South Westland, at Five Mile and Three Mile beaches south of Okarito, and at the Wanganui River mouth near Harihari, were monitored throughout the 2008/09 breeding season. During each burrow visit the number of eggs and chicks were recorded as well as the date of laying, hatching or fledging. Five colonies of blue penguin were also monitored in Buller over the same breeding season in a study conducted by the West Coast Blue Penguin Trust, a community trust based on the West Coast. The results of both studies were compared to determine the effect of predator control on breeding parameters, such as breeding success. Of 137 eggs laid in South Westland, 108 chicks survived until fledging, giving an overall breeding success of 78.8%. In Buller, 64 chicks survived to fledging from 101 eggs laid, resulting in an overall breeding success of 63.4%. Breeding success was significantly higher at penguin colonies in South Westland, compared to the Buller colonies. There was no evidence that predator control had an effect on breeding success in South Westland or Buller. The mean number of chicks fledged per pair that produced eggs was 1.55 in South Westland and 1.16 in Buller. The overall proportion of occupied breeding burrows compared to the total number of suitable burrows at the South Westland sites was 73.8% (n = 103). At the Buller sites, only 60.3 % (n = 151) of the total number of burrows was occupied. Road kills are a major threat to blue penguins in Buller due to the proximity of colonies to the state highway. Fortunately, incidences of road death in South Westland are rare and due to the distance from roads, do not pose a significant threat to South Westland blue penguins. Further study of blue penguin colonies in South Westland is needed to learn more about annual variation in breeding productivity and to determine if breeding success is consistently high over an extended time period. If this is the case, then the cause of blue penguin decline on the West Coast is unlikely to be due to problems with breeding as the breeding success during this study is one of the highest recorded for blue penguins. Although there was no apparent effect of predator control on breeding productivity during this study there is evidence from other locations that predators, in particular stoats, have contributed to the decline of blue penguin populations. More research into the impact of predators on penguins over a longer period of time is needed on the West Coast before a change is made to how predators are managed.

Westland petrels Procellaria westlandica breed only near Punakaiki on the West Coast of New Zealand. About 80 km offshore from their breeding colony, New Zealand's largest commercial fishery (for hoki Macruronus novaezelandiae) operates from mid June to early September, coinciding with the Westland petrel's breeding season. It has been assumed that Westland petrels feed extensively on fisheries waste and that this habit has been at least partly responsible for the increase in the Westland petrel population. Some seabird biologists have expressed concern that if a species comes to depend on scavenging at fishing vessels, such a species could experience a food crisis if fishing operations changed in a way that reduced the quantity of waste discharged. The aim of this research was to assess how dependent Westland petrels have become on fisheries waste for food. Diet studies showed that during the hoki fishing season, waste accounts for more than half by weight of the solid food Westland petrels bring back to the colony to feed their chicks. After the hoki season, waste contributes only about a quarter of their diet as birds switch to more natural prey and scavenge a wider variety of fish species presumably from smaller, inshore fishing vessels. Much of the fisheries waste eaten by Westland petrels was flesh which could not be identified using traditional techniques. The electrophoretic technique iso-electric focusing increased the number of fish samples that could be identified and consequently the diet was interpreted differently than it would have been had only traditional diet analysis been used. The survey of Westland petrel distribution off the west coast of the South Island, found that although hoki fishing vessels influence the distribution of Westland petrels, only a small proportion of the Westland petrel population appears to utilise this food resource at any one time. Westland petrels were tracked at sea by VHF radio telemetry and then by satellite tracking. Satellite tracking showed that there is considerable variation in the amount of time Westland petrels spend in the vicinity of fishing vessels. On average, satellite tracked birds spent one third of their time near vessels, but they foraged over much larger areas than that occupied by the West Coast South Island hoki fishing fleet. Although fisheries waste is an important component of the Westland petrel diet, it appears that the situation is one of opportunistic use of a readily available resource, rather than one of dependence. Several features of the Westland petrel's breeding biology and foraging ecology suggest that Westland petrels could compensate for a reduction in waste from the hoki fishery by switching to other sources of waste and increasing their consumption of natural prey. Nevertheless, much remains unanswered concerning the role of fisheries waste in the Westland petrel's diet. In particular, quantifying the waste available to seabirds, and the success of Westland petrels in acquiring that waste compared to other scavenging species, is needed in order to better predict the effect of a reduction in fisheries waste on Westland petrel population size.

This thesis presents new insights into Alpine Fault structures at the drill site of the Deep Fault Drilling Project (DFDP)-2B at Whataroa in New Zealand. Despite the challenging conditions for seismic imaging within a glacial valley filled with sediments and steeply dipping valley flanks, several structures related to the valley itself as well as the tectonic fault system are imaged. The Alpine Fault at the West Coast in New Zealand is a major plate boundary forming a significant geohazard as large earthquakes (magnitude 7-8) occur regularly and the next earthquake is expected relatively soon. A major effort has been made to study the fault characteristics through scientific drilling in the Deep Fault Drilling Project (DFDP) Alpine Fault with the deepest DFDP-2B borehole located in the Whataroa Valley. A great variety of seismic data are newly acquired. First, the WhataDUSIE (Whataroa Detailed University Seismic Imaging Experiment) data set is a ~5 km long 2D profile acquired in 2011 prior to the drilling. As the 2D profile could not fully explain the 3D structures in the Whataroa Valley, an extended surface and borehole data set was acquired in 2016 after the drilling. This data set consists of shorter 2D lines (< 3 km), a dense 3D-array, and vertical seismic profiling (VSP) using the DFDP-2B borehole including the fibre-optic cable. 3D seismic data proved to be essential to understand the complex 3D structures of the glacial valley and the major fault. First-arrival travel time tomography and prestack depth migration (PSDM) are applied to obtain a P-wave velocity model and seismic images of the subsurface (<5 km). In this complex setting, the Fresnel volume migration (a focusing PSDM method) proved to best obtain structural information about the subsurface. Analysing the results of the seismic data processing, two major outcomes are achieved: improved knowledge about the glacial structures of the Whataroa Valley and structural images of the Alpine Fault zone. The Whataroa Valley is an overdeepened glacial valley with details of the basement topography visible in the seismic images. A deep trough is identified south of the DFDP-2B borehole with horizontal layering of the sediments. Valley flanks are identified in both the seismic images and the P-wave velocity model, particularly the western valley flank. Thus, Quaternary and glacial processes can be analysed with the help of the newly derived seismic images. The Alpine Fault is directly imaged with the seismic data, which is the first time in this region at shallow depths (<5 km). Several shorter fault segments between depths of 0.2 km and 2.2 km dipping 40-56° to the southeast are directly imaged. Further identified reflectors and faults are interpreted to represent Alpine Fault structures in the form of a damage zone and induced faults adding further complexity to the fault zone. In conclusion, the 3D seismic results presented in this thesis provide new insights into the Whataroa subsurface. Hence, the new results form a good basis for a deeper understanding of the Alpine Fault structures and underlying processes which is important for potential future drilling but also for the estimation of the geohazard in the region.